New! Currently in the shop, I am selling dried craspedia. Craspedia is also known as Billy Balls, Billy Buttons or drumstick flowers. They have many great uses for projects, photo props or decor display and are all over the design scene. For more ideas look here.

Billy buttons have wonderful long stems that can be cut to your desired height. They come in a bunch of roughly 30-40 heads of all different sizes and a stem length of up to 16 inches for $18 a bunch! A bouquet of billy buttons would make a lovely gift delivered, just let me know and I will include a note and gift wrap. Buy the craspedia here.

Beautiful toile prints by Karin Akesson -Gardening Toille- Watering and Gardening Toile- Digging. Modern toile that would look great as a pattern on a pillow or tapestry. I hope many of you are creating your own summer scenes like these. Watering or Digging? There is something about planting a new tree that has me vouching for the latter.

I have come across a lovely vintage etsy shop Post Road Vintage. Heather Anderson salvages things like old trim boards, antique mason jars and vintage plates into unique home decor items. Have a look here at her shop. Oh and the last wall organizer is a giveaway on her blog! Hurry, it ends tomorrow!Today is the summer solstice. Are you doing anything fun to celebrate the first day of summer? I think we are heading out to pick some blueberries :)

I have a fire escape, with a very very old plaque that states there is a $10 fine if anything is placed on it. For fear of the large fine, I only have a clump of moss from a patch of woods in a local park that is still thriving from last autumn sitting on the black metal strips. I also have a small wooden planter box with wandering Jew and pink polka dot plants that liven my mornings on the window sill. I would love to create a garden bliss hanging outside my window, but we all know how unsafe that would be. Enjoy a few photos of these amazing fire escapes:Child on Fire Escape, 1966, Bruce Davidson:

while browsing flickr, I came across this photo Spori Fire Escape from my college alma mater Brigham Young University-Idaho (Then Ricks College)! The date is unknown, but I love the pioneer bonnet on the young woman, so old western:

A for Aster, B for Balsam, C for Calceolaria and Cactus, D for Dahlia, E for Erica, F for Fuschia, G for Geranium:

H for Hyacinth, I for Iris, J for Jonquil and Jasmine, K for Kalmia, L for Larkspur, M for Marigold and Mignonette:

N for Nasturtium, O for Oleander, P for Pink and Passion-flower, Q for Quince, R for Rose, S for Sweet William, Scabious and Stock:

T for Tulip, U for Umbilicus, V for Verbena, W for Wallflower, X for Xeranthemum, Y for Yellow Water Lilly and Z for Zinnia:

Beautiful, beautiful prints I found at the Royal Horticulture Society. They are images from a Victorian 1895 Children's Book "The Alphabet of Flowers". How lovely these prints would look in my little girl's room!What is your favorite? I love the illustration of S for Sweet William.

This particular client has two of these beautiful lavender and fuchsia container gardens framing her doorway. This specific container garden recipe is great for partial sun and shade. Therefore I was able to use inpatients and the wandering jew because the containers are not in full in sun.

Directions:For each and every plant, take it out of it's plastic pot and gently loosen the roots. Take off a lot of the extra soil and save it for compacting it at the end. If a plant calls for splitting, gently wedge them apart in clusters. When container gardening, it is best to use mostly full grown plants in hanging baskets or 8" pots. It gives instant satisfaction. Filler flowers are great in 4" and will eventually grow to fill and beautify throughout the summer.

Start with the topiary. Make sure it is nestled in the pot nice, roots slightly loosened and sturdy to prevent it from shifting in the wind. Next, I place in all the creepers (wandering jew, creeping jenny, potato vine, and lobelia) mounded and trailing in about 3 clusters around the lip of the planter. Follow the creepers with the filler focal flowers like the petunia and hibiscus which should be tucked in and around the topiary and creepers. Lastly, fill in any open holes with the impatiens. Be sure to add the extra soil in any holes to compact and prevent any of the plants from falling out. Water and fertilize often!

Art and urban gardening at its finest! Amsterdam horticulturist Fedor has created string gardens by designing root balls made of string, moss, dirt, grass and seeds in the Japanese botanical style fashion, kokedama. As the plants flourish, he balances them upright with string. His how to secrets are left to the imagination and the web site is mostly in dutch but worth a green while browsing here.I have become a facebook fan and I must say, its the best thing that pops up on my feed!

I'm not gonna lie. There isn't anything close to working with fresh flowers. It's something about holding a knife, slicing a fleshy stem and artistically placing it in fresh water that calls my name far more than using dried flowers, a glue gun and messy floral foam.

I am back shortly working with fresh flowers making bridal bouquets, corsages, cocktail arrangements, anything prom or wedding related. Tis that season. I've been getting a green thumb (literally) from cutting so many stems. Boy it's good to be back, even if it is for a short while. I am afraid my etsy store has taken a tumble while I've been out ignoring it but everyone needs a little inspiring break right?

My dear camera has also currently stopped working on me and I am afraid it is due to water damage. Pray that the factory can fix it quick and cheap!

I love all things green. Succulent leaves, interesting textures, soft moss. I am a professional floral designer who has created a way to work artistically and still be home with my little girls. Fresh from the garden state, flores del sol.

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Flower aficionado Christina Moreno is part horticulture expert, part floral designer. Her extensive knowledge of the botanical world is evident, from musings on her own botanical finds, to interesting and timely tidbits like the history of the royal wedding bouquet. Drawing on her love of all things vintage, Moreno also creates surprisingly modern arrangements made of dried flowers and moss in her Etsy shop.-elle decor.com